Protecting tiny trees

[ducks4you]

Gosh, I would wait until the Spring. I did this 3x, transplanted to a bigger pot, buried the pot with tree in my garden bed, then heavily mulched. All 3x the trees made it through the winter just fine and thrived when I planted them in the Spring. They were unprotected from our winter winds and twice it got to -20.
I really think we they say, plant in the Fall, it really means by the first of September.
To protect the trees, I would use metal fence posts and either chicken wire OR hardware cloth. You won't hurt the roots when you REMOVE the posts.
I used posts AND I put 3 inch diameter limbs that I had cut into the ground and chicken wire to protect my 2 Johnagold trees from my horses, but mostly bc I didn't want them to run Over them!

 

[flowerbug]

willows are pretty tough trees and easy to start. often people can just take bits of young wood from a willow tree and stick it in the ground and it will root/grow if it is kept damp enough. i don't know anything about the mulberries other than they make a bit of a mess on the sidewalk/drive/house if you plant them too close to those things. the berries are good, but kinda bland compared to a good blackberry. but a tree that gives berries is a wondrous thing.

 

[thistlebloom]

Actually you can plant trees in any season, anytime the ground is not frozen solid. The roots do grow in the winter even when the trees are dormant. The care they require in different seasons is the only variable. Some seasons they just need a lot more attention than others.

 

[thistlebloom]

Ugh...
Any recommendations on which tree watering bladder is best?
No way in heck I can water them any other way...

The way I watered in my seedling trees was with muck buckets filled with water, on a trailer pulled by my tractor. It was a good system and quicker and less hassle than connecting a bunch of hoses together. You have that wonderful tractor , you could put buckets in the FEL and drive them around.
If you give each tree a good 5 gallon drink once a week, and mulch around them well, (but keep the mulch away from the trunks so mice don't girdle them) that's only 10 5 gallon buckets, or a couple of muck buckets.

 

[secuono]

The way I watered in my seedling trees was with muck buckets filled with water, on a trailer pulled by my tractor. It was a good system and quicker and less hassle than connecting a bunch of hoses together. You have that wonderful tractor , you could put buckets in the FEL and drive them around.
If you give each tree a good 5 gallon drink once a week, and mulch around them well, (but keep the mulch away from the trunks so mice don't girdle them) that's only 10 5 gallon buckets, or a couple of muck buckets.

The paddocks aren't made to allow a tractor through.

 

[secuono]

Here's crappy pics of the little shrubs.

 

[valley ranch]

yeh, Like Ridgerunner showed in his post ~ I don't make them that big around, but that'll do it for rabbits for some rodents you have to have a top even ```

I usually put four posts ```

 

[secuono]

Using plastic pallets & irrigation tubing to keep them alive.

Link to new thread about them-

A little tree planting journey

Pictures are backwards. I'm planting 2 trees per paddock for my sheep to have shade as I rotate them through. Have 9 paddocks currently, but 1st has two mature trees, 2nd has two medium willows, the 3rd has two young fruit trees and the 4th has a row of pine/cedar trees. So, 5 more paddocks need...

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